When One Door Closes
by itwasjustmyimagination
Summary: The Gang learns a lot about following their hearts and openeing new doors to the future.  Jandre, Bori, Cabbie so far.
1. New Possibilities

"Whoa."

Jade and André were facing each other, staring. They were rehearsing the new spring play, "Shattered Dreams", a Beck Oliver original. Sikowitz had been put in charge of casting once the script came to him, and much to everyone's surprise, he had cast Jade and Andre as the lead roles, a husband and wife broken by the loss of their child, being taunted by the happiness of their neighbors, played by Tori and Beck. Today was the first day they were actually blocking out the scenes, practicing the movements and getting comfortable. They were working on the opening scene, where Jade would be sitting on a bed, Andre next to her, and the doctor, played by Robbie, would bring in a baby. Upon seeing her face, both parents discuss her beauty and end the scene in a kiss.

They'd just finished practicing, and there they stood, Jade dangling the plastic child from her hand, staring at the man in front of her, him looking back.

In that moment of their rehearsal, inside that kiss, something clicked for both of them. There was nothing else, no one else except for them. In that moment everything changed. They knew it. Jade had never thought of André that way. And André certainly never thought of Jade like that. But the second their lips touched, a spark was ignited, and it was going to big enough to either light up the whole world or bring down everything in flames. It was too much for them to bare, so both just stood their staring at each other, trying to make sense of it all.

They went through the rest of the blocking, saying the words scripted to them blandly, monotonously. They had both been knocked off their game and were just going through the motions, waiting until they could be alone to talk to each other. After the two hour rehearsal slot was up, they got their chance.

"Hey Jade, wait up!" André shouted out to her as she was trying to walk out of the black box theatre. "We need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about!" Jade's shrilly shouted back at him, not even bothering to turn around as she walked. Andre ran up behind her and wrapped his hand around her wrist, lightly pulling her back to him. She turned and stumbled into him as her knees weakened. Just his touch turned her to jelly, a feeling she never felt with Beck. But Beck was comfortable, familiar, and she knew she could count on him never to break her heart. She could feel herself tearing inside already.

"Jade, you know there is. Before. That kiss. I felt something and I know that you did too." André held her close to him, staring into her radiant blue eyes, waiting for her to respond.

"But, Beck…" Jade started, but André pressed a finger to her lips.

"Beck would understand. We're growing up. This is the time for us to explore our options. Open new doors. I think this is our time. He'd understand. Or, at the very least, get over it. Talk to him. I mean, you don't have to, but that feeling, that spark. I think we owe it to ourselves to see where this could go. Please Jade," he said, all this time, he was staring down at her, a tear catching in his eye, and her body trembled. Why did he have to be so charming, so attractive, so right?

"I'll talk to him." That was all Jade could muster to say. André smiled, making the butterflies in Jade's stomach flutter around. He leaned down to her and placed his lips on top of hers. Jade could have sworn her heart stopped beating then and there.

But soon, she snapped back to reality. And in reality, she needed to figure out what to say to Beck. This wasn't going to be easy.


	2. A Door Closes

All night, Jade had tossed and turned, trying to think of what she'd say to Beck the next day. And now, as she stood beside his locker, she still had no idea how she'd tell him. But, she wanted to pursue a relationship with Andre, she wanted to see where it could go. She never wanted anything more. When Beck finally walked over, Jade was deep in thought, her head swimming with the events of the day before. He saw her and smiled, and leaned down for a kiss, but having been snapped back to the moment, Jade moved away. Beck could see the conflict and confusion in her eye. Something was wrong.

"Jade?" He placed a hand under her chin, and lifted her eyes to his gaze. Tears had started to form in both their eyes now. She shook to fight his hold of her gaze.

"It's Andre," was all she could muster up. Beck looked confused.

"Is Andre okay? Did something happen? Where is he?"

"No, Beck. No. Andre's great. That's sort of the problem. Yesterday, that… kiss we shared for the play. It stirred something up, and it doesn't look like it's about to settle anytime soon. I think we all owe it to ourselves to chase different dreams, gather new experiences to carry with us, so when the time comes, we'll know exactly what it is we want." When she spoke those words, she even surprised herself by how calm she sounded. She was right, Andre had been right. This was our time to figure out who we were, what we wanted, how to get there. And right now, she wanted Andre Harris. Andre with his braided hair, his radiant smile, his incredible talent, his silky chocolate skin, his warm eyes, those bulging muscles. She was so lost in thought, that she didn't notice the tears escaping Beck's eyes, now creating a stream down his cheek. She'd hurt him, she hadn't wanted to, but that often happens when following one's heart, others get hurt. "Beck," as she snapped back to reality once again, "I am so sorry." She brushed a tear off his face and he looked at the ground.

After a moment, Beck straightened up and wiped away a few straggling tears. "Jade, it's okay, really. All I want is for everyone to be happy. You'll be happy, Andre will be happy, and eventually, I'll be happy too. And maybe one day, after this, you'll realize we are meant to be together, and we can live our happily ever after. Like we're supposed to." Beck stepped back, held Jade's upper arm in his hand for a second, turned around and walked away. Jade thought she should cry, but honestly, she was relieved. This had gone better than she expected. She now turned herself, and walked towards class, towards where Andre was.


	3. Another Opens

Beck skipped class that day and just sat in the Asphalt Café, staring at the blacktop. It was Tori who went looking for him. When she found him, just sitting there, it nearly broke her heart. Beck was confident, cool, strong; he shouldn't be sitting there, head down, broken. Tori knelt in front of him and held his face in both hands, lifting it up. The tears were still falling from his eyes. Tori was taken aback, she'd never thought she'd see Beck cry off the stage. Yet, here he was. She wanted to ask what was wrong, she wanted to soothe his pain, but she was unsure. And very afraid of what Jade would do. Even just holding him this way could incur a wrath so terrible from Jade, Tori shuttered at the thought.

Beck stared at her. He was also unsure. Should he share, make himself vulnerable to another person, again, just to get hurt? Would Tori understand? He decided to share anyway. Tori was a friend, she was understanding and helpful. He knew she wanted to be there for him, she always was.

"I wrote that play with the intention of it being performed, I can't deny that. I just never expected it would tear Jade away from me." Tori's face twisted into one of mass confusion. "She's left me for Andre. They never would have thought to explore this path if it hadn't been for that play. Kind of dug my own grave there, huh?"

"No! Beck, that's not it. This is life just opening up a new door for you. Go find it. Don't just sit here sulking because one closed in your face. Seize the day, my friend. Make things happen." Tori smiled at him. She was right, Beck thought to himself, he did need to make things happen. He held Tori's hands against his face, tilted his head slightly and leaned in to kiss her. They were both completely blown away.

Tori remembered the first time they'd kissed, but they were both so nervous about Jade, it hadn't been enjoyable, but now, free of the cloud of Jade hanging over them, this kiss was passionate, meaningful, perfect.

"Looks like I found that open door," Beck said as he pulled his head back. Tori smiled and brought her face back to his. Pure bliss.


	4. Could It Happen?

Robbie was sitting on the stairs in the main hall, Rex on his knee.

"Rex, am I destined to be left all alone?"

"Alone, huh? And what am I, invisible?"

"Rex, you know what I mean, no offense to you, but I need another person in my life. I've been trying for months to get a girl interested, but nothing I do seems to work. I feel like such a loser."

"Plenty taken. Maybe you're alone because you don't know how to speak to people. And you are a loser."

"Sorry Rex, it's just, I feel so unworthy of having someone. I've been down too long." Robbie put his head into his hands. Suddenly, Cat came down the back set of stairs and sat beside him.

"Robbie? What's wrong?" Cat's sing song voice made Robbie's head shoot back up. Cat was always such a good friend to him. She was the only one who actually cared and never treated him like he was a loser. She was an amazing person.

"Aww, it's nothing Cat," Robbie lied throught his teeth. But, Rex ratted him out.

"He's feeling insecure about the ladies. I keep trying to teach him."

Cat giggled. "Robbie, you don't have to worry about that. One day, everything will fall in to place for you. You just have to believe it." Cat smiled at him.

"Thanks Cat, you really are an amazing friend. I'm a lucky guy." He smiled back at her. She ran her fingers though the dark curls atop his head.

"Come on, Robbie, there's still some time to grab lunch." She grabbed his free hand and together they walked out to the Asphalt Cafe.


End file.
